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Dedicated, highly capable, and in harmony with each other

The major Berlin universities and Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin have been working closely together since 2016 to jointly and strategically develop Berlin as a center of science and research. Since then, funding has been secured for seven successful Berlin cluster initiatives and the Berlin University Alliance’s Excellence Strategy application has also proven successful. In February 2019, the Berlin Alliance presented itself to an international panel of experts as part of the process of attaining excellence status. TU president Professor Christian Thomsen shares his personal impressions of this important visit, which also marked a milestone in the process of establishing an alliance of excellence for Berlin.

Professor Thomsen, what did the experts attach particular importance to? What was your personal impression? The visiting experts were primarily interested in examining whether our application was a paper tiger or whether it genuinely reflected reality at the Berlin universities. This was the special significance of the review. I believe our efforts here proved very successful. A great many people from all institutions and status groups were involved. They presented their labs, the results of their research groups, and successfully fielded questions. What they demonstrated was their absolute belief in our concept and the commitment of every member of the participating institutions to achieving its implementation. My impression was that we succeeded in conveying our positive approach. The research lab tours were a chance to not only present our research work but also, together with colleagues from the other institutions involved, our concept of inter-university infrastructures. The Einstein Center Digital Future provided an impressive example of what we have thus far achieved: a joint institution involving all four partners.

What are the most important objectives of the joint application, i.e. components, that will make Berlin stand out as an exceptional center of science and research? We identified social cohesion as the first key challenge. This is an issue which all the institutions are involved in and which certainly cannot be satisfactorily addressed by one university alone. We were able to demonstrate by means of this issue the core of our rationale for establishing the Alliance. Knowledge exchange is another key topic, particularly the exchange with society, both in Berlin and worldwide. Our objective is to listen carefully to the questions society is asking about issues such as climate change, and then address these questions in our research. Similarly, we wish to set new standards for the quality of research, develop a joint infrastructure, and attract the best minds.

How important is the support of the Berlin Senate for the application? It is, of course, extremely important, and should in no way be taken for granted. The Senate provides us with support on two levels. All the institutions have received seed funding from an innovation fund over a period of two years, with 1.2 million euros going to TU Berlin alone. In addition to this financial commitment, however, many people from the Senate have also contributed their expertise, provided ideas, and supported us with their input. It was of course particularly important that Michael Müller, both as governing mayor and in his capacity as senator for higher education and research, was personally involved in the review process. His committed and highly competent representation of the Berlin scientific landscape was a definite plus and had an extremely positive effect on the reviewers. The strength of his statement was reflected in the applause it received, and subsequent feedback has confirmed my feeling that he made an outstanding impression.

What most impressed and perhaps even surprised you?Each of the institutions involved in the application has its own history, its own structures , its own culture. This meant that we had to learn to speak a common language at the start of the application process. After all, it would hardly create a good impression if the four presidents were to contradict each other. I think we succeeded very well in achieving a common identity. We were not addressed as the representatives of particular universities but rather as Alliance partners. This gave the impression of our really being in harmony with each other; this was only achieved, however, as the result of a great deal of hard work. Given all this, achieving a concerted and convincing identity was a very special experience for me personally. The results announced on 19 July 2019 are also extraordinary in my view and represent a huge milestone for Berlin and our University. Our courage paid off.